Chapter Event of the Year Award

The Best Chapter Event Award was established in 1991. It is administered by the Chapter Assembly.

1. Nature of the Award

1.1 The award shall consist of a certificate to be presented to the Chapter Chair and all Chapter members directly associated with the event, e.g., the organizers of a fund raiser or the program committee of a meeting or seminar. The award shall be presented by the Chapter Assembly Director during the Chapter Assembly Meeting (held during the ASIS&T annual meeting).

2. Purpose of the Award

2.1 The purpose of the award is to recognize the best event held by a Chapter (or jointly by two or more Chapters) during the previous year (July-June).

3. Eligibility

3.1 Any type of Chapter event is eligible, including technical programs; seminars; panels; workshops; CE courses; product exhibitions; tutorials; fund raisers; or other events. Joint events held with other associations are also eligible.

4. Administration

4.1 The Best Chapter Event Award is sponsored by the Society-at-Large and is administered by the Chapter Assembly.

5. Nominations

5.1 Nominations shall be solicited by mail from the Chapter Chairs by the Chapter Assembly Director.

5.2 Nominations can be made by any ASIS&T member. The members of the Chapter Assembly Advisory Committee (in their role as individual Chapter liaisons) shall also be responsible for soliciting nominations from Chapter officers. Advisors themselves may also submit nominations. Request for nominations shall be publicized in the Bulletin of the Association for Information Science, and the Chapter Notes.

5.3 Nominations shall be submitted electronically to the Chapter Assembly through
the Start Conference Manager by July 31 August 15. They should address the relevance, significance, and quality of the event, as well as unique features and particular benefits to the Chapter, with supporting documentation, when possible. Nomination packages should be simple and concise; the intent of the award is to recognize the event and not to burden the nominator and the Jury with paperwork.

5.4 Each nomination for the Best Chapter Event Award shall consist of:
(a) A nominating letter which contains a 250-word description of the event which is being nominated;
(b) The name, address, phone number, and Chapter name of the person who is submitting the nomination;
(c) No more than two letters of support;
(d) No more than three supporting documents;
(e) A 50-word citation which may be used for publicity, if the event is chosen to receive the award.

6. Jury Committee

6.1 The Chapter Assembly Director, Deputy Director, and Advisors shall serve as the Jury for this award, with the Chapter Assembly Director serving as Jury Chair.

6.2 Members of the Jury may serve a second term, if, at that time, they serve the Chapter Assembly as Director, Deputy, or Advisor.

6.3 If a Jury member has been nominated for this award, the Jury Chair shall appoint another ASIS&T member to serve on the Jury, in place of the nominee.

7. Selection of the Awardee

7.1 The criteria by which Chapter events shall be evaluated include:
(a) Relevance for the Chapter's members;
(b) Societal or scientific/technical significance of the topic discussed;
(c) Creativity, originality, and presentation quality;
(d) Benefit to the Chapter or to ASIS&T.
(e) Success in meeting the event's goals.

7.2 The Jury shall make their decision based upon the documentation submitted. Each member of the Jury shall have one vote.

7.3 Each Juror ranks all eligible nominations based on the evaluation criteria. Each criterion has a maximum value of 20 points, with the maximum number of points each nomination could receive being 100.

7.4 The Jury Chair totals the points from all jurors, and the winner is the Chapter event with the highest average score. To receive the award, a Chapter event must have an average score of 80 points or higher.

7.5 If two or more Chapter events receive identical scores, the Jury shall decide if more than one award should be given. If necessary, run-off votes may be taken or the Jury Chair may convene a conference call to resolve the decision.

7.6 If there are no appropriate candidates, the award need not be given in a particular year.

7.7 The Jury Chair shall communicate the Jury's decision to the ASIS&T President, the Chair of the Awards and Honors Committee, the ASIS&T Executive Director, and the recipients of the award prior to the annual meeting. Prior notification will allow the recipients to be present to accept their awards.

7.8 The Jury Chair shall provide a 50-250 word abstract, stating why the award was given. This abstract will be used to publicize the award. Material for this abstract can be taken from the voting rationales provided by the members of the Jury.

8. Presentation of the Award

8.1 The award shall be presented to the winners by the Chapter Assembly Director during the Chapter Assembly Meeting (held during the ASIS&T annual meeting).

9. Publicity

9.1 The award shall be publicized through the Bulletin of the Association for Information
Science and Technology and on the winning Chapter's website. Publicity is the responsibility of ASIS&T Headquarters.

10. Deadlines

10.1 ASIS&T Headquarters and the Jury Chair shall solicit nominations by May 15.

10.4 Selection shall be made and the ASIS&T President, the Chair of the Awards and Honors Committee, the ASIS&T Executive Director, and the award recipients shall be notified by 30 days prior to the ASIS&T annual meeting.